Monday, August 2, 2010

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pizza Crust Recipe

The kid may not like peanut butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, lettuce, or most vegetables... but he loves pizza. I'm not sure if there are too many kids who don't.

While Chris was at our house, most of his meals were gluten free... simply because I just won't buy things with gluten. It's a scary monster that I don't want in my kitchen. My husband is very lucky that I still let him buy "regular" wheat bread and cereals... or maybe I'm the lucky one, since he puts up with me! Yes. It's most definitely the latter.

One afternoon we decided to make pizza. And not just any pizza. Pizza made primarily from almond flour. Amazingly I told Chris it was just pizza, and he didn't even question what the crust was made of. Score one for the aunt.

I've been using almond flour in most of my recent baking. It's low glycemic and it's easier on my blood sugar than using a lot of gluten free grains and starches.

This is how the crust turned out. It was beautiful. I almost reached for a tissue. I was proud! I made a thick crusted 12" pizza with this dough, but I think next time, I would split this dough in half and make two thin crust pizzas. The crust was golden & crusty on the outside, and soft and pliable on the inside.

It made a perfect gluten free pizza. No one complained. Even the husband ate 3 pieces. And they had no idea that it contained something healthy other the almond flour.

White beans. Cleverly hidden little mashed white beans for some extra fiber and just because I wanted to see if it would work. My husband is not a huge fan of beans and I suspect my nephew isn't either. And they never knew it was hiding in their pizza.

We used regular mozzarella on this pizza. I was completely out of my non-dairy casein free Daiya cheese. I knew better. In hindsight the next time this happens, I'll just leave a few slices cheese-less so my tummy will be happy. My tummy was not happy. I think just this once though, it was worth it to watch my nephew create that happy smile on our delicious almond flour crust pizza.

44 comments:

This looks great! I'll have to try it next time I make pizza. I don't make pizza too often because I do have one of those picky kids that won't eat pizza! She won't even try it anymore. Oh well, the cheese doesn't sit well with my stomach either. Glad your nephew like it.

Heather! Wow, I haven't met many kids who are adverse to pizza, but then again I thought all kids liked peanut butter before my nephew thoroughly refused to eat it! LOL... Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!

Momnivore - I heart your name BTW! Yes! I've been trying to make more yeast free variations of things... one, because I can't find a good source of organic non-gmo yeast, and because honestly most of the time, I don't have time for things to rise! lol...

Looks fabulous, Carrie! How interesting on the beans being an ingredient in the crust. Yep, I'd definitely have to keep that a secret from Mr. GFE. I think I'll do what you wish you had ... just make part without cheese. I'm still not sure I want to get into buying non-dairy cheese. I think I'd be happy with pizza sauce and toppings.

Very cool. I will have to give this a go! I've yet to find a good home-made crust and only found ONE good pizza place that makes a chickpea crust in our area. Fingers crossed...I need to try the Daiya cheese...

Shirley - You absolutely could not taste them! It was great! And I think it added a really great softness to the crust! I know what you mean about the cheese... I'd probably be better just leaving it out altogether too!

Ness - I've only been to one place in Florida (so far) that actually had a gluten free pizza crust... so I totally know what you mean! I also posted another recipe in June for a yeast-free pizza if you want to use grains instead of almond flour!

I can't wait to try this recipe, Carrie! I'm allergic to almonds so when I find a safe substitute this will be at the top of my list. Thanks for sharing! By the way, you win the "Best Aunt" award hands down!;)

This I have to try! Of course, for me, it's the cheese that's the problem. The boys don't usually question the crust too much, but they know the cheese isn't really cheese and I have yet to manage to get them past that to give the "new pizza" a chance. Any suggestions from Moms who have had to go gfcf with a 9 & 6 yo due to allergies not identified until now?

Jennifer - Have you tried a new pizza without any cheese? Do you think your kids would try that?

Megan - Yes, I'm not really sure if you could use a flax egg sub for this or not. Almond flour can be kind of funny that way... but I don't see why you couldn't try it and see if it works. If you do, I'd just do enough of a flax sub for two eggs instead of three. And don't worry about the "3rd" egg.

Carrie, this looks gorgeous! I am definitely going to try it. LOL - I made pizza this past weekend, and I "tested" dairy again (after it showed positive on an allergy test). All I ate was mozzarella, and my tummy still isn't too happy. I do love that Daiya, but I think cheeseless would be good too. I love that this crust is much faster than the yeasted varieties I've tried. Yippee!

Thanks Alta!! Yes, I think in the long run, it's just easier to get used to things minus cheese! I do like it on pizza, but all the other things i used to have it on I can live without! I don't need cheesy casseroles or cheesy potatoes, or cheesy tacos anymore.. it's amazing how your taste buds can adjust!

Carrie,This is definitely bookmarked for patient reference.Love how the beans were a hidden hit.Have you tried the white bean flour? I use it all the time to add a bit of protein and fiber to baked goods. It also makes an amazing poof-done creamy style soup. Just add broth and veggies, I get mine from Bob's Red Mill.

Jean - so glad you chimed in! No, I generally haven't used bean flours because they always taste "beany" to me... but for some reason the mashed beans in this recipe didn't stand out at all to me! SO it was definitely hidden! I'll have to try the BRM brand, they are my favorite and I use so many of their other flours! Love your soup trick!

this looks awesome and it's yeast free!!!! but is there a way to sub for the eggs - they are our highest allergen. i would love any suggestions. thanks!jenps - someone mentioned having an egg free recipe in the comments but i didn't see a link.

I have been looking for a pizza recipe for my 2 boys that one is type 1 diabetic and on a low glycemic diet and another one that can't tolerate gluten. Can't wait to reintroduce pizza into their lives!! I think we'll go without the pepperoni and do a turkey and pineapple. : )

My family didn't like it. Thanks for giving me something to try though! My gluten free son, really, really, did not like it. I did use raw almonds, and put them in my vita mix for the flour, so they were not blanched, and had a darker color. I did not think it was bad, just not awesome. My crust did not look as pretty as yours.

I'm so glad that I found your blog posting for this! My daughter can't have yeast! Wheat! Sugar or dairy and now my Naturopath has put my husband and I on the same diet. Will try this tonight with some goat's cheese and veggies!! Thanks! Tamara Stimpson of http://thestimpsonsoupkitchen.blogspot.com

Wow, that looks like normal pizza crust! Do you think adding some yeast would make it even better? I guess not if it's already soft and pliable on the inside! I can't wait to make this. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

So I made it and my husband was strangely pleased. I say strangely because he dislikes all the healthy things I try. When I was making it, the smell of beans kind of made me nauseous and I couldn't get over it while eating the pizza.

I used a pizza stone and it was still crumbly. Was yours crumbly? I don't have proper almond flour so maybe that was my issue. I'd love to make it again, but have mine come out how I think yours came out. :)

Texanerin -- YES! The Honeyville blanched almond flour makes ALL the difference. The pizza crust I make with this is not crumbly at all. It's a soft, flexible crust! :-) Hope you can find a way to locate the Honeyville brand!

I just made this minus 1/2 cup of almond flour and the beans. I would have used the beans if I had some on hand. It was really sticky when I put it on the pan (as the recipe says). I was a little weary that it was not going to be enough, so I did not spread it all over my 12 inch pan. I left about a 2 inch border. However, when I was pre baking it, it raised up so beautifully! Next time I will spread it all over the pan. It looks delicious so far. I am just baking it now with toppings.

Hi there - thanks for the post! I tried making this pizza dough, but couldn't get mine to rise to look like yours. Your pizza dough looks like regular pizza dough crust, whereas mine was mealy and more like a pie crust.

Any idea on what I'm doing wrong? I'm dying for a good pizza, but like you have gone gluten free and need something with a low glycemic load.

Thanks for the recipe! I recently started a gluten-free and wheat-free lifestyle along with my family, and though we mostly skip bread products, once in awhile we miss something like pizza. I made this using the almond flour from Nuts online, and it turned out great. I meant to take pics for my blog, but we jumped into the pizza too quickly. The crust had a nice texture, and we were able to pick up a slice and eat it like regular pizza. good job on this one!

Thank you!!!! for this recipe. We started a grain free-dairy free lifestyle after my hubby just couldn't get over his IBS and extreme heartburn symptoms. For 4 months we have been eating the same thing over and over again. We happened across a chocolate-chip cookie recipe using almond flour. He then wanted pizza so here's how I have found your site. You have wonderful recipes here and I have been using a lot of them the last few weeks. This Pizza Dough Recipe, even my kids loved. I didn't think hubby would eat it because it has beans in it, but he helped me make it and ate almost the whole pizza by himself (old habits die hard). Thank you again for all the wonderful recipes you have compiled on here. It's people like you who take the time to compile all these wonderful recipes, that is making my life so much easier!!!

First of all, THANK you for this recipe! For health reasons I have had to go off sugar and cut waaaay back on grains (once a week treat, if that). There have been times it has been really difficult giving it up. This recipe makes it all much easier though! Don't care for deserts or sweets much, but surely do miss bread- this is a great replacement. My favorite way is to use the dough is to make mini "rounds" to use for sandwiches (kind of like it better than real bread actually) or individual pizzas.

I've made them several times now, though doing half-batch each time, using one egg. It is great tasting, though a little delicate and ever so slightly crumbly. This next time I plan on doing a full batch to see if mine ends up more like yours (dense and sturdy looking). May try freezing a couple to see how they taste later on too.

One thing...it takes some getting used to the taste of almond flour. It is too strongly nutty flavored for me when right out of the oven and hot. I let mine cool in the fridge now before eating and you can hardly tell they are made with almond flour after that.

Anyway, thank you ever so much for this recipe. Couldn't live without it now. Keep up the good work, it is much appreciatedCK

I can't wait to try this . I have brown rice flour and almond flour in my home at the moment. my 2 yr old has to stay away from gluten and dairy and eggs for at least 3 months. I think it will be good for us all. This is kind of baking is new to me and I would like it to be simple. Thanks so much.